Police Open Fire on Transgender YouTube Star

[Nithavela]

A 24-year-old transgender YouTube star with Asperger's Syndrome apparently threatened suicide last week and ended up dead—when he was shot by police. Officers in Mesa, Ariz., arrived at Kayden Clarke's home on Thursday morning after friends said he'd sent text messages and emails threatening to kill himself, People reports. Allowed in by friends, police reportedly encountered Clarke in a hallway brandishing a long kitchen knife. "The officers were in a small hallway that leads into the bedroom," says Det. Esteban Flores. "The door was open and it was dark; there were no lights on." Officers are said to have opened fire when Clarke lunged at them with the blade. Clarke was taken to hospital but didn't survive, the Arizona Republic reports.

The officers—who didn't know about Clarke's condition—had stun guns, but Flores says one cop was retrieving "another less-than-lethal option" at the time. They also lacked body cameras because they hadn't been assigned any (all Mesa police are slated to have them within 18 months). Clarke, born Danielle Jacobs, achieved viral YouTube fame in June when he posted a video of himself having an apparent Asperger's meltdown and being comforted by his dog, the Washington Post reports. Now an autism group in Phoenix is reacting to the tragic death, the Arizona Republic reports. "We empathize with the police, but we have a lot of unanswered questions," says an executive at the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix. "[Clarke] was very famous in our community. There is quite a bit of anger."

http://www.newser.com/story/220243/police-open-fire-on-transgender-youtube-star.html

 

[Aryeh Jay]

It is sad someone died.

It is sad friends called the police instead of an ambulance.

It is sad that Arizona refused mental health treatment.

But I watched all five videos they posted to YouTube, this person had a whole lot more going on besides Asperger’s.

 

[High Fidelity]

It is sad friends called the police instead of an ambulance.

EMT's aren't prepared for people lunging with knives.

 

[Armoured]

To give the benefit of the doubt to the cops, I'll say it sounds like a suicide by cop.

That said, I've long said that police need to engage knife wielding suspects with non-lethal means.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

EMT's aren't prepared for people lunging with knives.

And police are not health care professionals.

The EMT’s would not have confronted the person, they would have called police. The result may have been the same or perhaps the police would have used the Taser. But an ambulance would have been on scene none the less.

 

[Nithavela]

To give the benefit of the doubt to the cops, I'll say it sounds like a suicide by cop.

That said, I've long said that police need to engage knife wielding suspects with non-lethal means.

According to the article, they had stun guns, and one of them was getting another non-lethal weapon. They decided to use their real guns instead.

 

[Armoured]

According to the article, they had stun guns, and one of them was getting another non-lethal weapon. They decided to use their real guns instead.

And people will argue that a person with a knife might hurt someone while being tazed. I want to see police with a full body stab proof suit that allows them to close with and disarm knife wielding suspects without even thinking of needing a weapon.

Some people do this stuff for a hobby, in protective gear designed 3000 years ago. Don't tell me it's beyond professionals with state of the art equipment.

 

[Nithavela]

And people will argue that a person with a knife might hurt someone while being tazed. I want to see police with a full body stab proof suit that allows them to close with and disarm knife wielding suspects without even thinking of needing a weapon.

Some people do this stuff for a hobby, in protective gear designed 3000 years ago. Don't tell me it's beyond professionals with state of the art equipment.

Well, I hope they do bring something better than bronze and boiled leather.

 

[Armoured]

Well, I hope they do bring something better than bronze and boiled leather.

I'd be quite confident to confront any knife wielder in my mail and padding. That's C3000 year old technology in a 800 year old configuration. I can only imagine someone in the modern kevlar iteration being pretty much invulnerable.

Edit: I'd havve been almost as confident in my boiled leather lamelar back when I had one. Knives aren't scary if you know what you're doing and have protection, which need not be all that extreme.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

I'd be quite confident to confront any knife wielder in my mail and padding. That's C3000 year old technology in a 800 year old configuration. I can only imagine someone in the modern kevlar iteration being pretty much invulnerable.

Mmmm. Titanium chainmail...

 

[Armoured]

Mmmm. Titanium chainmail...

I know a ring supplier who will sell titanium rings. You have to link them yourself of course, but it can be done. There are contemporary reports from the 1500s of BULLET PROOF mail. Now, admitedly thats against a blackpowdrr round, but it's still pretty impressive. Mail is really an excellent defence against penetration or slashing injuries. It was even used in the First World War by early tank crews to protect against spalling.

 

[Nithavela]

Mmmm. Titanium chainmail...

Good stell should suffice, although chainmail seems sub-optimal (the rings protect well against slashing attacks, but a good knife thrust can catch in a ring and break it open).

Normal clothing with sewn in cevlar fabric would most likely do the trick, especially if combined with a helmet.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

I know a ring supplier who will sell titanium rings. You have to link them yourself of course, but it can be done. There are contemporary reports from the 1500s of BULLET PROOF mail. Now, admitedly thats against a blackpowdrr round, but it's still pretty impressive. Mail is really an excellent defence against penetration or slashing injuries. It was even used in the First World War by early tank crews to protect against spalling.

It is used in cut gloves in some professional kitchens.


http://www.superiorglove.com/universal-five-finger-chain-mail-glove

Shark suits too...

 

[Armoured]

Good stell should suffice, although chainmail seems sub-optimal (the rings protect well against slashing attacks, but a good knife thrust can catch in a ring and break it open).

Normal clothing with sewn in cevlar fabric would most likely do the trick, especially if combined with a helmet.

Further the average knife wielding maniac is rarely equiped with the specific sort of mail defeating rondel dagger used to defeat mail, nor the training to use one. They're pretty specciaised weapons and techniques. Like I say, in all seriousness, any knife wielding person shot and killed by police you can think of, I'd have been happy to attempt to disarm in my full 1250 Maciejowski harness.

 

[Armoured]

It is used in cut gloves in some professional kitchens.


http://www.superiorglove.com/universal-five-finger-chain-mail-glove

Shark suits too...

It gets heavy in larger scale, but sure, why can't every police station have a sharksuit for this sort of situation, until Raytheon smells the opportunity and offers a space age materials version for a 2000% mark up?

 

[Nithavela]

Further the average knife wielding maniac is rarely equiped with the specific sort of mail defeating rondel dagger used to defeat mail, nor the training to use one. They're pretty specciaised weapons and techniques. Like I say, in all seriousness, any knife wielding person shot and killed by police you can think of, I'd have been happy to attempt to disarm in my full 1250 Maciejowski harness.

I think that the main problem lies not in the absence of body armor, but in the absence of the willingness to put yourself into even the slightest risk to spare the life of the aggressor.

 

[Armoured]

I think that the main problem lies not in the absence of body armor, but in the absence of the willingness to put yourself into even the slightest risk to spare the life of the aggressor.

That's rather my point. I'd be happy to volunteer to try if it meant saving a troubled person's life. I'm sure many mediaeval reenactors would. And if I'm willing, why aren't cops? Why is the "shoot first, think of alternatives later" paradigm so entrenched?

 

[Sistrin]

According to the article, they had stun guns, and one of them was getting another non-lethal weapon. They decided to use their real guns instead.

Yeah, because when someone threatens and then lunges at you with a knife asking them nicely to wait until the other guy gets back from the car typically doesn't work.

 

[Armoured]

Yeah, because when someone threatens and then lunges at you with a knife asking them nicely to wait until the other guy gets back from the car typically doesn't work.

Why weren't they carrying them? Not much point leaving the taser in the car when you go to a reported knife incident where you might want a non.-lethal option, is there?

 

[cow451]

And police are not health care professionals.

Thanks to America's concern for the mentally ill, there are more psychiatric "patients" in jails than in hospitals. By default, law enforcement is now the "spear" of the mental health system.